Applicator pad



April 12, 1960 MORSE I 2,932,052

' APPLICATOR PAD Filed March 15, 1956 VENTOR. LC-AMED #701955 flaw ' ATTORNE Y.

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rates 2,932,052 APPLICATOR IPAD Edward A. Morse, Rahway, NQIL, assignor to Personal Products Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application March 15, 1956, Serial No. 571,833

' 2 Claims. (Cl. -209.)

nominal cost that they may be economically discarded after a single use.

Applicator pads have been made heretofore and have normally comprised a facing material and a backing material made from woven fabrics so constructed and tent treated as to providea sealed enclosure or pocket containing a padding or filling material whereby the cosmetics may be applied. The woven fabrics which have constituted the facing and backi'ngmaterials have. been made fromhard, high-twisted threads andlthe resulting fabrics have been brushed or napped to raise a pile to create softness and smoothness. .Such materials, how ever, have been very expensive to make and would not have been accepted commercially were it not for the fact that they could be used and reused over long periods of time. Such materials,,furthermore, have also not been entirely satisfactory inasmuch as the pile or nap gradually disappeared during use whereby they became undesirably hard and harsh to the feel. Additionally, portions of prior applications of soiled powder, rouge, .etc., have remained embedded therein along with other foreign materials andhave constituted a health and dermatological hazard to the user, when theyhave been reused.

Similar fabrics have been made from less-hard, low- I twisted threads and some improvement has been obto enclose the filler within sealed outer edges.

and shape, disposing thereon a padding or filling material, preferably wholly within the peripheral'bounds of the backing, covering the backing and the filler with a nonwoven facing material, preferably of the same size and shape as the backing material, and then developing a potentially adhesive substance which was previously included within at least one of the nonwoven materials to adhere the outer edges. of the nonwoven materials Such sealed outer edges additionally provide means for handling and using the applicator pad without directly contacting the filler or the unsealed central portions of the nonwoven materials.

In the accompanying drawing and following specifica-.

tion, there is illustrated and, described a preferred design of applicator pad embodying the present invention but it is to be understood that the invention is not to be considered limited to the construction illustrated and described except as determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan view, partiallyb'roken away, of a form of the present invention; and i Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, in the direction indicated.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing, the applicatorpad 10 comprises a central portion 11 of fibrous material such. as ground wood pulp,

served in the resulting softness and feel but the eXpensiveness of such articles and the economic necessity of their re-use has militated against their more widespread acceptance. Additionally, the undesirable dermatological aspects of such re-use involving exposure of the skin to soiled foreign materials and other extraneous matter has been a deterring factor. I

Woven pile fabrics, such as velvet or the like, have also been used as the facing material for applicator pads but, although such materials have remained soft and smooth over extended periods of time, they are quite expensive to makeand similarly create health and dermatological problems dueto their re-use.

It is therefore an object=.of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, disposable applicator pad for applying cosmetics which can beisimply and easily manuf actured at such a nominal cost that it can be economically discarded after a single use whereby health and dermatological hazards are avoided.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro- .mascerated cotton linte rs, cleaned textile waste, bulktype paper, or other porous, fluffy padding or filler material; a nonwovenexternal cover or backing material 12 of a face powder-permeable nature whichmay contain thermoplastic or thermosetting resins or fibers; and a nonwoven external cover or facing material 13 of a face powder-permeable nature which also may contain thermoplastic or thermosetting resins or fibers.

The thermoplastic and thermosetting resins and fibers incorporated in the nonwoven materials may be selected from a wide group of materials which are potentially adhesive and will become tacky and adherent under suitable application of heat, pressure and/or solvents. Examples of such adhesive materials include cellulose esters such as cellulose acetate, polymeric amides such as nylon, protein fibers such as zein, polyesters such as Dacron, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate polymers such as Vinyon, vinylidene chloride polymers such as Saran, polyacrylonitrile polymers such as Orlon, etc.

The nonwoven external covers may be seiected from materials such as those sold under the trademark Masslinn as described more fully in US. Patent No. 2,039; 312, issued to Joshua Goldman, orthe nonwoven fabrics described in US. Patents 2,705,686; 2,705,687 and 2,705,688, issued April 5, 1955, or the nonwoven fabrics described in co-pending application Serial No. 505,394, filed May 2, 1955.

These materials are made up in a series of card webs usually numbering from about three to about seven, and preferably five, and possess a total weight ranging from about 200 to about 350 grains per square yard, with the commercially preferred range, extending from about 210 to about 230 grains per square yard The potentially adhesive materials are included in the outermost Web of the laminated structure, so that a high concentration of surface adhesive properties is available for sealing purposes. It has beenfound that from about 10 to about 30 percent, and preferably from about 15 to about 20 percent, by weight of potentially adhesive materials based on the weight of the outermost web may be included therein to provide sufficient adherence. That is to say, in a five-web nonwoven material weighing about 220 grains per square yard, the outermost web individually weighs about 45 grains per square yard and per square yard of potentially adhesive material.

It is not necessary that' both the nonwoven backing and the nonwoven facing contain the adhesive materials and, as a matter of fact, the use of only one adhesivecontaining web has been found preferable. If adhesive materials are included in both nonwoven materials, then the concentrations referred to above may be halved, approximately.

It is to be observed that only a small amount of potentially adhesive material is required inasmuch as it can be easily incorporated only in one web rather than throughout the external cover. This, of course, is made possible by the use of a plurality of webs in the manufacture of the nonwoven material. If the potentially adhesive substance had to be incorporated throughout the nonwoven material, such use would have been costly, inefficient and undesirable. Additionally, it has been noted that, if the potentially adhesive substance is incorporated throughout the facing or backing material, such as by being incorporated in all the individual webs, the

resulting article tends to lose its softness and flexibility and to become undesirably hard, harsh and board-like.

The pressures, temperatures and/or solvents to be applied to develop the potentially adhesive properties may be varied within wide ranges depending upon the materials selected and are applied in the annular peripheral area 14 surrounding the filler as an edging area, as noted in Fig. 1 of the drawing. This development of adhesive properties encloses the filler material securely within the external covers and prevents shifting or moving of the enclosed filler and, at the same time, provides an edging for handling the applicator pad without manually contacting the filler or the unsealed portions of the facing and backing materials.

One typical example of the manufacture of an applicator pad is as follows: a nonwoven backing material (sold under the trademark Masslinn) consisting of five webs, each weighing 45 grains per square yard, with the outermost Web containing 7.4 grains per square yard (16.5%) of Vinyon HH fibers (a vinyl chloridevinyl acetate resin staple fiber produced by American Viscose Corporation) was blanked out to form a sealloped circular figure of about 7 centimeters in diameter. A circular filler of finely comminuted wood pulp (flufi) having a. diameter of about centimeters was placed substantially concentrically thereon and a nonwoven facing material similar to the backing material was placed on top of the filler and backing. Approximately 100 pounds per square inch pressure was then applied annularly by means of a die heated to a temperature of about 220 F. to the article in the area bounded by the peripheries of the filler and the larger nonwoven materials. This area became integral and formed a sealed enclosure for the filler and provided an edging approximately one centimeter in radial width as a handle for holding and using the applicator pad without contacting the filler or the facing material.

A second applicator pad was prepared using a nonwoven backing material (sold under the trademark Masslinn) and a nonwoven facing material made in accordance with the process described in co-pending patent application Serial No. 505,394, filed May 2, 1955. Instead of blanking out the desired forms initially, larger squares (8 centimeters on a side) were used as the facing and backing and the desired form was blanked out after the separate layers including the filler were assembled; Approximately 100 pounds per square inch pressure was used at an increased die temperature of about 300 F. whereby the duration of time for the application of pressure was decreased and the productivity increased.

It is, of course, to be appreciated from the above that the nonwoven facing and backing need not be exactly alike or similar but that various combinations of nonwoven materials may be selected.

The potentially adhesive materials are preferably in fibrous form and may be included directly with the materials going into the manufacture of the nonwoven materials. If the potentially adhesive materials are to be applied as a coating or as a spray, then such application is made to the outermost web to provide the required surface concentration of adhesive along with the desired softness and feel of the fabric. The applicator pads need not be circular but may be elliptical, oval, rectangular, or polygonal. The edging need not be annular or scalloped but may take any desired shape or form.

While I have shown and described what I believe to be a preferred embodiment of my invention in the matter of simplicity and durability of construction, it will be appreciated that the details of such construction may be more or less modified within the scope of the claims without departure from the principles of construction or material sacrifice of the advantages of the preferred design.

What is claimed is:

1. An applicator pad for applying cosmetics comprising a powder-permeable backing composed of a plurality of webs of fibrous nonwoven material, a fibrous filler disposed on said backing, and a powder-permeable facing disposed on said filler and said backing, said facing 'being composed of a plurality of webs of fibrous nonwoven material, only one of the webs of at least one of said backing and said facing containing a potentially adhesive substance in an amount of from about 10 to about 30 percent based on the weight of the web containing the potentially adhesive substance, all of the webs of said backing and said facing being adhered to each other in a portion thereof peripherally surrounding said filler by said adhesive substance to provide an enclosure therefor and to constitute an edging for handling said applicator pad without contacting said filler or the unadhered portion of said backing and facing.

2. An applicator pad for applying cosmetics comprising a powder-permeable backing composed of a plurality of webs of fibrous nonwoven material, a fibrous filler disposed on said backing within the peripheral edges thereof, and a powder-permeable facing disposed on said filler and overlapping the peripheral edges thereof and contacting a portion of said backing, said facing being composed of a plurality of webs of fibrous nonwoven material, only one of the webs of at least one of said backing and said facing containing a potentially adhesive substance in an amount of from about 10 to about 30 percent based on the weight of the web containing the potentially adhesive substance, all of the webs of said backing and said facing being adhered to each other in a portion thereof peripherally surrounding said filler by said adhesive substance to provide an enclosure therefor and to constitute an edging for handling said applicator pad without contacting said filler or the unadhered portion of said backing and facing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,565,775 Bash Dec. 15, 1925 2,039,312 Goldman May 5, 1936 2,277,050 Reed et al. Mar. 24, 1942 2,382,169 Pena Aug. 14, 1945 

